Fisher sticks to own methods

The British

& Irish Lions

Tour to New Zealand 2017

Fisher sticks to own methods

19 December 2006 16:51pm

Brumbies boss Laurie Fisher will not adopt the experimental methods of Wallabies coach John Connolly.

Connolly came under fire for moving champion flyhalf Stephen Larkham to inside centre for the first two Tests on the Wallabies' recent European Tour as well as playing regular No.12 Matt Giteau at scrum-half.

However, Fisher has ruled out such positional changes for the Brumbies - who feature Wallaby players Larkham, Stirling Mortlock, Mark Gerrard, Clyde Rathbone and George Gregan in their backline - in next season's Super 14 competition.

"We won't be experimenting with positions," Fisher said.

"We will be playing them in the positions they play their best football.

"But we certainly will be experimenting with our style of play."

The Canberra-based team will be without star back Giteau this campaign after he signed for new Australian Super 14 team the Western Force, and Fisher agrees the loss is massive.

"He is a tremendous loss to us," said Fisher.

"He is extremely dangerous in attack in so many situations, is a great support player and he defended very well for us last year. And I don't think we will be able to replace him with another player in the 'Matty Giteau style'.

"That said, he has some limitations to his game and we have to focus on the fact that while players won't be able to do some things as well as Matt Giteau we do have players that can do some things better than Matty Giteau.

"So we will look at the positives out of that and adjust our gameplan accordingly."

One player Fisher is looking to for some attacking flair in the outside backs is Julian Huxley.

An off-season buy from the Queensland Reds, Huxley can play anywhere in the backline, and is at home at flyhalf, centre and fullback.

He was also a star for the Brumbies in the Australian Provincial Championship.

"I think he adds some extra dimension to the team," said Fisher.

"We are a team that likes to play attacking rugby and we see his addition to the squad as a major asset for us.

"We felt he has been the outstanding back for Queensland for the past two years, and there has been a lot of talk about the youngsters such as Berrick Barnes and Kurtley Beale, but if you take a long hard look at Huxley you will see he is an outstanding footballer."